2.7 KiB
| title | description |
|---|---|
| Intro to Ethereum | A brief introduction to Ethereum. |
Ethereum is a technology for building apps and organizations, holding assets, transacting and communicating without being controlled by a central authority. There is no need to hand over all your personal details to use Ethereum - you keep control of your own data and what is being shared. Ethereum has its own cryptocurrency, Ether (ETH), which is used to pay for certain activities on the Ethereum network. In essence, Ethereum is a blockchain with an embedded computer.
What is a blockchain?
A blockchain is a database of transactions that is updated and shared across many computers in a network. Every time a new set of transactions is added, its called a “block” - hence the name blockchain. Most blockchains are public and immutable, and you can only add data, not remove. If someone wanted to alter any of the information or cheat the system, they’d need to do so in such a way that the majority of computers on the network accept. There are very strong crypto-economic defenses against this on Ethereum. This makes established blockchains like Ethereum highly secure base-layers for organizations and applications.
What are smart contracts?
Smart contracts are computer programs living on the Ethereum blockchain. They only execute when triggered by a transaction from a user (or another contract). They make Ethereum very flexible in what it can do and distinguish it from other cryptocurrencies. These programs are what we now call decentralized apps, or dapps.
Once a smart contract is published to Ethereum, it will be online and operational for as long as Ethereum exists. Not even the author can take it down. Since smart contracts are automated, they do not discriminate against any user and are always ready to use.
Popular examples of smart contracts are lending apps, decentralized trading exchanges, insurance, crowdfunding apps - basically anything you can think of.
Who runs Ethereum?
Ethereum is not controlled by any one entity. It exists solely through the decentralized participation and cooperation of the community. Ethereum makes use of nodes (a computer with a copy of the Ethereum blockchain data) run by volunteers to replace individual server and cloud systems owned by major internet providers and services.
These distributed nodes, run by individuals and businesses all over the world, provide resiliency to the Ethereum network infrastructure. It is therefore much less vulnerable to hacks or shutdowns. Since its launch in 2015, Ethereum has never suffered downtime. There are thousands of individual nodes running Ethereum network.